The Mystery of the Heart
by mille libri
Summary: When Jim goes away a distance that is more than miles grows between him and Trixie. Meanwhile, another Bob-White's long-standing crush on the Schoolgirl Shamus is revealed, and Trixie must decide where her heart truly lies.
1. Chapter 1

_I always thought Dan had a crush on Trixie - he's unfailingly supportive and seems to get her better than the others. So I wanted to explore their relationships a few years on, when everyone's growing up a little. _

* * *

As Trixie Belden sat listlessly toying with her pancakes, the horn she'd been dreading was heard honking outside.

"That's Jim," her brother Brian said, pushing back his chair. "Thanks for breakfast, Moms."

"It's no trouble, Brian, you know that. I only wish you could have spent more time at home," his mother said wistfully. She and the rest of the Belden family followed Brian out onto the porch. He had been home from college for two weeks, and was now getting ready to leave for a month as a camp counselor.

"I'll be back in a month, and then I'll be home for the whole summer, I promise." He kissed his mother, exchanged a hearty hug with his father, shook the hand of Mart Belden, who had just graduated from Sleepyside Junior/Senior High, and leaned down to give a big kiss to Bobby Belden, who squirmed away.

"Big boys don't kiss!"

"Sorry." Brian grinned at his baby brother, ruffling his hair, before turning to Trixie. "You going to come with us to the bus stop? I'm sure Honey would like your support as she drives Jim's jeep back home."

Trixie nodded, trying to push away the unhappiness she felt. "She asked me about it last night on the phone."

Honey came to a sudden stop in the driveway, and Trixie could see Jim Frayne wince in the passenger seat of his jeep. "Come on, Brian, before all my hair turns gray!" he shouted out the window. He didn't look at Trixie, though, and she didn't look at him. Instead, she crossed in front of the jeep, sliding into the back seat behind Honey Wheeler. Brian settled onto the seat next to her, waving a final good-bye to the rest of the family as Honey shifted gears with a horrible grinding sound and put the jeep into reverse.

"Watch it, Honey. I think Jim would like his car to be in one piece when he gets back." Brian grinned, leaning easily back against the seat.

Honey giggled. "I'll keep that in mind." She glanced quickly back over her shoulder, about to speak, when Jim grabbed her arm, pulling the wheel enough that they missed Bobby's bike, which was lying just off the driveway. "Sorry." Honey turned back toward the road, but Trixie could see her friend's ears reddening in embarrassment.

The drive to the bus station was a quiet one. At last they pulled up; Brian and Jim got their duffels out of the bag, and gave their sisters a hug. Jim was Honey's adopted brother, but they had come to love each other as much as if they had grown up together. Then Brian and Honey stepped away a bit for a more private good-bye. They didn't say very much, but the look on her best friend's face as she looked up at Brian made Trixie uncomfortable, as though she was intruding. She cleared her throat. "Well, have fun at camp."

"I will, thanks. You have fun here."

"Uh-huh." They nodded at each other, and Trixie couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the friendship, and the promise of something more one day, they used to share. Jim had gone away to college and come home someone she barely knew. She had changed, as well ... she had hoped he would notice the new curves of her figure and the slenderness of her face, but he didn't seem to. He treated her the way he treated Honey—as a kid sister who was no longer part of his daily life.

Brian, on the other hand, had come home from college clearly more appreciative of Honey's fine qualities than ever. Trixie was happy for her friend; Honey deserved a good guy like Brian. But she couldn't help looking at Jim and wondering what was wrong with her, all of a sudden.

The bus horn beeped. Brian kissed Honey's cheek, gave Trixie a last squeeze, and got on the bus. Jim followed him after a brief hug for Honey and a clasp of his hand on Trixie's shoulder.

Honey's eyes stayed glued to the bus until it was out of sight. Then she glanced mischievously at Trixie. "Did we give you and Jim enough time?"

"Time? For—" But Trixie stopped herself. If her best friend couldn't see that all was not right between Trixie and Jim, then Trixie didn't want to have to explain it to her here at the bus stop. "Of course. Plenty of time. How about you?"

"There's never enough time," Honey said. She smiled to herself, a secret kind of smile that Trixie didn't understand ... but she wanted to. She hated herself for being jealous of her best friend and her big brother for finding a happiness that had so far eluded Trixie.

"We should go. I think Moms had a whole list of chores she wanted me to get done today."

"I promised to help Miss Trask, too." Honey glanced worriedly at the jeep. "What if I wreck the jeep on the way home? Jim will never forgive me."

Trixie put an arm around Honey's shoulders. "You won't. But if you do, we'll just tell him you let me drive and he can never forgive me instead."

"Oh, Trixie, Jim could never not forgive you."

There was really no response Trixie could make to that which wouldn't shout her unhappiness, and she let it go.

As they were driving home down Glen Road, Trixie tried to focus on the road and on encouraging Honey's driving, but she couldn't stop her mind from wandering. She was leaning against the window when she saw something in the woods that startled her.

"Honey, stop the car!"

Obediently, Honey stamped hard on the brakes, bringing the jeep to a squealing halt. Jim would have been so upset to hear that sound, Trixie thought distractedly as she opened the passenger door and jumped out of the car.

"Bobby!" She called out. "Bobby Belden! You come back here right now. You know better than to go this far from home by yourself! Bobby!"

She came to a halt in the middle of the woods, panting. Bobby hadn't answered her call or come to her, which was unusual. Even when he knew he was in trouble, he usually had the sense to come when he was called.

"Trixie, what is it? Did you see Bobby?"

"I was looking out the window and I saw a little boy climbing up a tree. It had to be Bobby—he had the same red sneakers, and his jeans were ripped at the knee. Besides, there aren't any other little boys in this part of Sleepyside. Bobby complains all the time that he doesn't have anyone to play with."

"I don't see any tracks, do you?" Honey looked around in the underbrush, throwing up her hands in defeat when she saw nothing.

"No, I don't, either. We can't follow him through the woods on foot, and we can't leave Jim's jeep just sitting there by the side of the road. Let's go back home so I can find out from Moms where Bobby might have gone, then we'll get the horses and come search for him."

"Sounds good to me. Regan's been wanting us to ride more and keep the horses properly exercised, anyway."

"I miss the days when we were all home and could ride together. Now Jim and Brian are gone for a whole month, Diana's in Europe with her family, and it's just you and me and Mart and Dan left in Sleepyside."

"I know." Honey put the keys back in the ignition, starting the car, and pulled smoothly back onto Glen Road. "At least we'll have plenty to keep us busy while the others are gone. She sighed, the corners of her mouth turning down.

"Look on the bright side, chum." Trixie grinned. "At least the camp Brian's teaching at is all boys."

Honey laughed, as Trixie had intended she would. She hoped her best friend hadn't noticed that she'd left Jim's name out of the comment.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the enthusiastic reception! I have most of this written, so I should be updating pretty regularly. I hope you all continue to enjoy it!_

* * *

When they arrived at Crabapple Farm, Trixie hopped out of the jeep immediately. Honey leaned across the seat. "Do you want me to come in with you, to see if Bobby's there?"

"No," Trixie called back. "I'll come up when I'm done talking to Moms and we'll take the horses out."

"Okay." With a squealing and snarling sound, Honey changed gears into reverse and backed carefully down the driveway, managing to avoid the mailbox at the end as she pulled out onto Glen Road and turned toward her own home.

Trixie ran into the house. "Moms!"

"Ssh!" her mother said, coming to the door of the kitchen with a dish towel in her hand. "I just got Bobby to go take a nap a few minutes ago."

"How many minutes? I mean, could he have snuck out?"

"Snuck out?" Her mother frowned at her. "He's been running a fever all morning. He was asleep before I left the room."

"Oh." Trixie frowned, thinking about what she had seen. She'd been so sure it was Bobby.

"Is something the matter, dear?"

"No, Moms. Apparently not." Except that Jim was gone, and even when he'd been here, he hadn't really been here. But she didn't know how to talk to her mother about that. She didn't know how to talk to anyone about it.

Several days passed in the regular routine—looking after Bobby, helping Moms with housework, tending the garden and the chickens, helping Honey exercise the stable-full of horses. About a week after Brian and Jim had left, as Trixie and Honey were riding Lady and Susie through the Wheelers' game preserve, they ran into Dan Mangan. Dan was Regan's nephew. He had gotten into trouble with a big-city gang and come to live with Mr. Maypenny, who looked after the game preserve, and had become the old man's right hand.

"Hi, Dan," Trixie said, swinging down from Susie's back.

Dan was crouched over some tracks on the ground. He stood up as Trixie approached. "Oh, hey, Trix. And Honey," he added, looking over Trixie's shoulder.

"What are you looking at?"

"Looks like Bobby was out here, although seems like a long way from your house."

"Bobby wouldn't come this far, not without one of us with him," Trixie agreed. "You know, I thought I saw Bobby out this way when we were coming home from dropping Jim and Brian off last week."

Dan's eyes narrowed. "Sure is quiet around here with half the Bob-Whites away."

"It is," Honey said. She sighed.

Dan smiled at her. "Brian'll be back in no time." He glanced quickly at Trixie, then away. "Jim, too."

"Yeah." Try as she might, Trixie couldn't force enthusiasm into her voice. Honey, occupied tying Lady's reins to a nearby tree branch, didn't seem to notice, but Dan did, his eyes fastening on Trixie's face.

"Something wrong, Trix?"

She shook her head, embarrassed to find tears threatening to fill her eyes. "No, everything's fine."

"If you want someone to talk to …"

Honey came over to look at the tracks, breaking the mood. "Are these really Bobby's tracks?"

"I'm not sure," Dan said. He squeezed Trixie's arm reassuringly as he turned away, looking down at the tracks.

"I think they're a little smaller than Bobby's," Trixie said.

Dan tried to span the footprint with one of his hands. "They look about right to me."

Trixie shook her head. "Bobby's been going through a growth spurt; Moms keeps complaining that she can't buy shoes fast enough. These are about the size of Bobby's foot last fall, but he's bigger than this now."

The three of them searched the nearby trails for any further traces of a little boy about Bobby's age, but couldn't find anything.

At last, Dan looked up at the sky. "I'm going to have to hurry home if I'm going to get any studying in. I'm taking a correspondence course in criminal justice," he said when the girls looked at him in confusion. "Hoping to get ahead for next semester."

Dan was studying to be a policeman. He wanted to be on the streets, able to help boys who were troubled the way he had been and keep them from falling in with the wrong crowd.

He cleared his throat, glancing almost shyly at Trixie. "Do you want to come over and look at my study materials sometime? Some of the descriptions of investigative techniques are pretty interesting. I'm sure Mr. Maypenny wouldn't mind."

"That would be great, Dan!" Trixie said enthusiastically. She and Honey planned to run the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency when they got older, although Trixie was the one who did most of the detecting. In the last few months, Honey had been talking less and less about their agency, and more and more about what it would be like to get married and have a family. Trixie had to admit, her friend had never been the enthusiastic detective she was. "I'll check with Moms and come by after dinner tomorrow night, okay?"

"Great." Dan flashed her a rare, genuine smile and Trixie returned it, glad for another Bob-White who understood the importance of being a detective.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for reading, everyone! _

* * *

Trixie knocked at the door of Mr. Maypenny's cabin the next night, hearing the old man's cheerful voice tell her to come in. "Is Dan here?" she asked.

Mr. Maypenny's eyes twinkled at her. "He's got all his books spread out in his room. Looks like a library in there." He pointed up at the ceiling.

Trixie climbed the quaint stairs set into the wall up to the loft. "Dan?"

"Hi." Dan was sharpening a very short stub of a pencil. He looked down at it ruefully. "Would you believe this was a full pencil when I started? It wouldn't seem to sharpen right."

"I brought some, too." Trixie grinned. "Usually, I'm not so prepared, but Moms caught me on my way out the door."

"She didn't … mind you coming over here?"

"No. Why would she?" Trixie leafed through one of the books. "Sometimes I forget how similar police work and detective work are. It must be a big help to a detective to have a friend on the police force, don't you think?"

"I would think so."

"Sergeant Molinson sure doesn't think the reverse is true, though." Trixie winced, thinking of the many times the sergeant had lectured her about staying out of his cases. "I think he has a celebration every time the Bob-Whites go out of town."

"Probably," Dan muttered under his breath.

"Oh, Dan, I'm sorry. I wish you could come along with us more often!"

"Yeah, me, too." He shrugged. "You want to get started?"

"Sure." Trixie took a pencil and a notebook out of her bag and sat down next to Dan on the bed. They looked over his notes and paged through his books companionably for an hour or so before Trixie began to fidget restlessly.

"Something wrong, Trix?"

"I guess I'm more the 'go out and look for clues' type than the 'sit still and study' type."

"Tell me something we all don't already know." Dan grinned. "Me, too. That's why I want to be a cop, be out there on the streets instead of sitting behind a desk."

Trixie nodded, getting up and stowing her pencil and notes in her bag. Thoughtfully, she said, "You know, Dan, I never really thought about it before, but we're a lot alike."

Dan stood, as well, and came across the room. "I know," he said. His eyes were darker than usual, and the air in the room suddenly seemed heavy.

Trixie was conscious that they were both staring at each other, and she felt the excited tingle along her nerves that she usually associated with the start of a new mystery … or the presence of Jim Frayne. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "I should go. Moms will be expecting me back. Good-night, Dan."

Hastily, she started down the stairs, leaving Dan standing there.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for reading! I appreciate it._

* * *

She avoided Dan for the next week. It wasn't difficult to do, since he spent most of his time studying or working in the game preserve, and she spent most of hers helping Moms around the house. Trixie made excuses to Honey and Regan for not doing her share of helping to exercise the horses. The only one she couldn't seem to get away from was Mart. Every day the two of them were out in the large garden weeding and tending the growing young plants, which was what Mart loved most to do, but to Trixie seemed unutterably boring. Although she did love to eat the succulent produce that came from all that hard work, which was why she did it as uncomplainingly as she could manage.

"Methinks my feminine sibling hath traveled in her mind far from yon fair cornfield," Mart said suddenly.

"What?"

"You're picking the bean sprouts instead of the weeds. A sure sign that your brain isn't in the garden with the rest of you."

"Oh."

"What's going on?"

Trixie glanced at her brother. For all their squabbles, the last year with Brian gone to college had brought them closer together than ever, but there were still things she didn't feel comfortable talking about, with him or with anyone. "Nothing."

"Wouldn't have anything to do with the absence of a certain Titian-haired gentleman of our acquaintaince, would it?" She raised an eyebrow, and Mart sighed. "Red-head. Does that spell it out enough for you? Jim leaves, you mope, I tease, in words of one syllable."

"No, not really. It's nothing." To her surprise, Trixie felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Mart dropped his hoe, coming over to tilt her chin up. He'd put on several inches in the last few months and was now taller than Brian and Jim. It was strange to be looking so far up at her "almost twin," Trixie thought.

"It's not nothing," he said. "Not if you're crying over the weeding. You haven't cried about chores in years. Did you and Honey have a fight?"

Trixie shook her head.

"Have you talked to her about what's bothering you?"

"No. I can't … I don't even know what to say," Trixie whispered. "It's all so mixed up."

"This is about you and Jim, isn't it?"

"There is no me and Jim! Not anymore, if there ever was to start with," she shouted.

"What do you mean, if there ever was?" Mart asked. "It's been you and Jim since the first time you set eyes on each other."

"It was," Trixie said falteringly. She wasn't comfortable talking about this with her brother, but she hadn't been able to talk about it with anyone else, either, and she was so confused she didn't know what to think. "And then he went to college and everything changed. He's so … distant, like there's always something else on his mind. Maybe someone else." She blushed. "Something … happened, I think, and now I—I don't know."

"What happened?"

"I was studying at Dan's and—Mart, I'm so confused, I just don't know!"

"Did Dan do something to make you uncomfortable?" Mart's eyes were fixed on hers intently.

"No. Yes. I'm not sure, Mart. There was … something there, and it felt—" Trixie looked away. "I shouldn't be telling you this."

"Who else will you tell? Clearly you aren't talking to Honey about this. Why not? Because of Brian?"

"She's so happy and she talks about it all the time, and what it'll be like when they're both home. I don't want to burst her bubble, but—"

Mart sighed, pulling her against him in a long hug. "Trixie, Trixie. Nothing can be easy for you, can it? This is one mystery I think you have to solve on your own. I hope it doesn't turn out to be your hardest one yet."

Trixie nodded against his chest, sniffling a little. "I don't know how to do that. All of you are always there for me." She pulled back, looking up at him. "What about you? Are you and Di …?"

He laughed. "No, I think we all knew that wasn't going anywhere. Diana can do a lot better than me, and I … think I might want someone who uses as many big words as I do."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense."

"So what are you going to do, Trixie? Which will it be, Jim or Dan?"

"I don't think it's my choice." She sighed. "I think I should just stop thinking about it."

"Mm-hm." Mart smiled at her, but he looked skeptical. "Sounds like something that's easier said than done. Here," he gave her a little push toward the house. "Why don't you go help Moms with Bobby? I'll finish up here, and Bobby will be sure to take your mind off your troubles."

"You're right; I've told him all my stories so often I have to keep coming up with new ones. He's almost too big to tell stories to." Trixie sighed. "As much of a pest as he used to be, I'm going to miss tucking him in for a nap."

"And the quiet that comes after."

They shared a grin, and then Mart picked up the fallen hoe and Trixie ran back toward the house.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks for reading, everyone! _

* * *

Trixie shifted restlessly in bed. A glance at her clock told her it was 2:05, exactly six minutes since she had last looked. She sat up, pulling her pillow out from behind her and fluffing it, then putting it back. It was more comfortable when she leaned back, but the pillow hadn't been the problem to start with. She rubbed her forehead in aggravation. She had tried to take Mart's advice and stop thinking about Dan and Jim and the whole mess, but her brain was stubborn and it kept working at the problem … usually when she was trying to sleep, or to concentrate on something else. On those occasions where she sat down to really consider the problem, her brain refused to work at all.

Jim would be back in another week; Dan hadn't pressed his case since Trixie had left his loft bedroom, but the look in his dark eyes … Trixie shivered. She realized he had been looking at her that way all along. How could she not have noticed? How could no one else have noticed? When she talked, Dan listened. When the others made fun of her theories, Dan took them seriously. But Jim—she could picture his smiling face so clearly, the tenderness and warmth in his eyes when he looked at her. Something about being with him felt so right; it always had. She belonged with him. Or she used to. Now, she didn't know. Maybe he looked at someone else that way, some girl from college who was tall and poised and beautiful and all the things Trixie wished she was and never could be.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she leaned her forehead against her drawn-up knees. Here alone in the dark she could admit to herself what she couldn't say to anyone else—that she missed him. But did she miss her friend or … the other thing? Did the flutter in her pulse when she thought of Dan's clear interest mean that she returned his feelings?

No question, she wasn't going to be sleeping any more tonight. Her eyes were burning, but her mind was racing. She might as well get up and see if there was something worth doing downstairs. Maybe she could give Moms a surprise and get a head start on breakfast. She got out of bed, dressing as quietly as she could in the dark. She'd had plenty of practice doing so—her mysteries often involved getting up in the middle of the night and sneaking out. This might be the most normal-girl reason she'd ever gotten up for, she thought with a smothered smile.

As she came down the stairs in the dark house, she heard a clattering sound from the direction of the kitchen and wondered who else in the family had been unable to sleep. As she came in, the back door was being pulled closed, and she looked at the table, strewn with cereal and toast crumbs, in consternation. Who had been here? She rushed to close the door before more bugs came in the house—several moths were already fluttering around the light over the kitchen sink. Then she wiped up the crumbs and the spilled cereal, glad for a mystery to distract herself with. Could it have been that little boy she had seen and whose tracks Dan had found? The kitchen wasn't locked, and Crabapple Farm was easier to get into than the Manor House. A hungry little boy might have come in here looking for something to eat.

Trixie sighed. She would have to see Dan tomorrow—today, that is—to find out if he'd found any more tracks. Which led her right back to where she'd started. Sighing, she sat down, leaning her head on her hand.

And woke with a start to find sun streaming in the kitchen windows and her mother standing over her. "Trixie? Are you all right?"

"Oh, Moms! I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep, so I got up for a snack, and … I guess I found the kitchen table more comfortable than my bed last night."

Her mother put a hand on her forehead in the familiar feeling-for-fever gesture. "You don't feel like you're coming down with something, do you?"

"No, I'm healthy as a horse."

"Hm." Moms looked at her carefully. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Not right now, Moms." Trixie jumped up. "Can I help you get breakfast ready?"

"Sure. It's nice to have some company in the kitchen at this hour. Are you thinking of making this a regular habit?"

Trixie laughed. "You know, I just might."

After breakfast she left the house and jumped on her bike, pedaling toward Mr. Maypenny's. She hoped to catch Dan before he was out on his rounds, but of course, he had no doubt been up with the birds. Mr. Maypenny pointed her in the right direction. After pedaling along the paths for what felt like forever—and wishing she wasn't constantly forgetting her wristwatch on her dresser—Trixie finally found Dan, hacking away at vines of bittersweet that were swarming up a young birch tree.

He stopped when he saw her coming, sheathing the big knife he'd been using. "Hey, Trixie."

"Hey, Dan." She put down the kickstand on her bike, and they stood looking at one another. Trixie felt breathless. She tried to remember what she had come here for. "Uh … have you seen any more of those tracks? The little boy's?"

"Yeah, not far from here. I was going to come tell you, but …"

"Oh." She wasn't sure what to say to that. Did she tell him it was okay, and make him think she meant something more than friendship? Did she agree that they should avoid each other and close the door before she knew what was on the other side? "Um."

"Trixie, I'm sorry. I never meant to make you uncomfortable. I know you and Jim are—special to each other."

She bit her lip. She couldn't talk about the thing with Jim, or the lack of a thing with Jim, not with Dan.

But Dan was more perceptive than she had ever given him credit for. He continued, "Things haven't … seemed quite right with you two for a while, though, and I thought maybe—Well, I thought if I never said anything …" He broke off, grinning sheepishly. "I guess I still haven't really said anything, have I?"

Trixie shook her head. Was she supposed to stop him? Was she supposed to hear him out? Would it hurt his feelings if he said something and she didn't know what to say in return?

"Trixie, I think you are the most amazing girl ever. I … know I'm always so busy, trying to do right by Mr. Maypenny and keep up my grades, that I've never had a chance to spend as much time with the rest of the group—with you—as I wanted to. But I want that to change. I want to see you … more." He swallowed visibly, but he maintained eye contact.

"I don't know what to say."

"I know. This was probably a big surprise."

Trixie nodded, feeling suddenly shy. Ironically, right now she wanted to see Jim, of all people. He had always helped her think, grounding her in reality. She wanted to ask him if it was okay to explore these new feelings that fluttered inside her as Dan spoke, because she didn't know what the rules were. "Dan, I— Can I take some time and think about this? You know me, I jump into things so fast and then … things go badly."

"You jump in with enthusiasm, Trix, because you're a person with strong feelings. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I know, but usually it's because I'm sure of what I know. Now, I …" She shook her head. "This is too new. I'm not ready yet."

"I understand." His eyes were soft on hers, and he reached for her hand, taking it in his.

Trixie stared at their joined hands for a long moment; his so big and muscular, hers smaller, almost dwarfed in his. She could feel her heart pounding. Did that feeling mean she liked Dan, was attracted to him? Because she used to feel that way when Jim held her hand, too. This was different, though. New. Strange.

She pulled her hand away. "Um, you'll show me where those tracks are?"

"Tracks?" He looked away, clearing his throat. "Right. Tracks. Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for reading, everyone! It always bugs me that Trixie and her mom don't do more together - I never get a good sense of what her mom thinks. I tried to remedy that here a little._

* * *

The day before Brian and Jim were due home, Trixie woke up to rain spattering on the windows, and to two mysteries that were nowhere near being solved. She and Dan hadn't been able to find the little boy who had made the tracks, and Trixie was growing increasingly concerned about his well-being. And Trixie hadn't made any headway at all on her own feelings. She'd been spending a lot of time with Dan, and that felt good. He was funny, and smart, and he looked at her like he thought she was beautiful … but she didn't know if she felt for him what he felt for her.

The whole month had been strange. With Diana gone, with Brian and Jim away at camp, the Bob-Whites no longer felt like a single group. Honey spent hours writing letters to Brian, and had thrown herself into a self-imposed job as Miss Trask's assistant. Honey was so certain that she was going to grow up and marry Brian that she was determined to learn how to run a house—the cooking, the laundry, the budget, all of it. There had been no talk of the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency in a long time. Mart spent his days mostly working in the extensive gardens, studying the crops and the weeds and the wildlife and how they all worked together. Dan hit the books every night. Trixie felt as though she was the only one without a consuming passion to drive her—such a change from the days when Trixie's passion for mysteries had driven all of them. She wondered if they were all happier now, if all along they had all wished for fewer mysteries and more time to do the things they cared about. She supposed if they had all felt that way it was nice of them to have humored her for so long. But now she had to decide how she was going to do it all without them.

It had all seemed so simple—the seven of them always together. Going to school together, riding together, swimming and helping people and eating and … everything. Always together. Now that everyone was scattered, Trixie couldn't help but wonder if anyone else remembered all the promises they had made to each other, to entwine their futures the way they had entwined their lives as high school students.

"Trixie, honey?" Moms came in, putting her hand gently on the top of Trixie's head as she sat at the table polishing silverware. "You were staring into space. Don't tell me there's another mystery afoot." She smiled.

"Well … not really. Sort of? I don't know."

"Which is it?" Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Helen Belden sat down across the table from her daughter.

"There's a little boy I caught a glimpse of. Dan's seen his tracks, too, but neither of us can find him. He may be out there cold and hungry."

"Have you talked to your father or the authorities?"

Trixie flushed, looking away guiltily. "No. I guess I hadn't thought of it. Usually the Bob-Whites remind me of these things, keep me from going off and trying to do everything on my own, but this summer …" She waved a hand to indicate how far apart they all were.

"It's hard when your friends are scattered, pursuing their own lives," Moms said understandingly. "I've worried about this time, and how you would handle it. You all had such an idyllic time together, but sooner or later that changes and you drift apart, each going after what means the most to you."

"I'm realizing that." Trixie traced a pattern on the tablecloth with the fork she'd been polishing. "It never occurred to me that so much of what the Bob-Whites did was centered around my interests. I guess I was pretty selfish, keeping all the others from the things they wanted to do."

"Don't be silly. You were focused, certainly; much more so than the others. So you led them into adventures—but look what you all did because of that! You traveled all over the country; you met new people and often helped them solve their problems; you swam and fished and skiied and rode horses. The others had a lot of fun and did a lot of good, and they all know they have you to thank for it."

"But, Moms—"

"No buts, Trixie. We all know you can be too focused on your goal to stop and look around you, but any time the others suggested doing something else, you did. You may not have liked it, but you did it. If they didn't suggest it more often, it's because they were having a good time, too." Helen Belden reached out to grasp Trixie's hand. "You are too hard on yourself, Trixie."

"Someone has to be."

"I don't think that's true." She squeezed Trixie's hand. "You want to tell me what's really bothering you?"

"What do you mean, Moms? I'm just … feeling bad about the others."

"Yes, I see that, but I think there's more to it. I couldn't help but notice that there hasn't been a letter for you all month, and that the name 'Jim Frayne' seems to have disappeared from your vocabulary. For a while there, I thought I was going to have to worry about the two of you, and then everything stopped."

"Sounds like you were relieved."

Her mother smiled. "I was, a little. You were so young when you and Jim met, I didn't want you wrapping up your whole world in him without having a chance to experience … dating, I suppose. Not that I don't like Jim—he's a wonderful boy—but I didn't want my little girl settling down, or growing up, so quickly. But then, I saw what happened to you when he wasn't here. My bright, happy girl turned into a shadow of herself."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Trixie blinked away tears.

"Trixie, honey, I'm not saying you did anything wrong. You feel things deeply, but you don't always—you're not always comfortable admitting what you feel, even to yourself."

"I know, Moms. Like right now, I—" She hesitated, not sure how to say it, or even what she wanted to say.

"What's happening, Trixie? This summer has been hard for you, and I'm so used to the boys that maybe I haven't been as aware as I should have been. Brian's always known just what he wanted, and Mart thinks his long thoughts and keeps his own counsel, but you need to act in order to think."

Slowly, Trixie nodded. "That's it, Moms, and with Jim gone, I can't talk to him."

"Why don't you go looking for that little boy in the woods? Take Bobby; he's spent enough time wandering the woods, he might know where another little boy would hide."

"That's a good idea. Thanks, Moms!"

"You're welcome. And Trixie?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I haven't been more help to you. You know you can come to me any time you need to talk, I hope."

"I know, Moms, I really do. It's just … I didn't know what I thought, so I didn't know what to ask."

"Oh, Trixie." Helen Belden stood up and gathered her daughter into a hug. Trixie hugged her mother back, feeling somehow less lost.


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks for all your comments! It's interesting that enthusiasm seems pretty evenly split between Trixie/Jim and Trixie/Dan ... which means that about half of you are going to be disappointed when I come to the end. Hopefully I can manage to make Trixie's decision feel right, even if she doesn't end up with the guy you're rooting for._

* * *

Trixie looked down at her brother, putting her hands on his shoulders. His blue eyes were serious as he returned her gaze.

"Bobby, these are the last tracks we could find. If you were a little boy, where would you go from here?"

"I am a little boy!" he said, frowning at her. Trixie was struck for a moment by how old he looked suddenly, the baby fat gone from his cheeks. He looked … like her, she realized with some surprise. Her baby brother was growing up, right under her nose, and she hadn't even really noticed.

"You're right," she said, tousling his blond curls. "What I meant to say is, do you know where the good hiding places are in this area of the woods?"

He looked up at the change in her tone—she had spoken to him the way she might have spoken to Mart or Brian if they were on a case together. "I think so. Let me take a look around by myself, okay, Trixie? It'll go faster that way."

"Sure. Holler every few minutes so I know where you are?"

"Okay." And he disappeared, shimmying up a tree as nimbly as a squirrel.

Trixie waited. She was surprised not to find herself fidgeting—standing around while someone else investigated had never been her strong suit, but she was remarkably content to trust Bobby to know where he was looking, and the underlying point that the other boy would be less scared of someone his own size hadn't been lost on her.

With her ears pricked for sounds of Bobby's progress through the woods, she heard the person approaching long before she might otherwise have done, and so wasn't startled when Dan emerged in the clearing. "Hey, Trixie."

"Hey."

They stood there for a few moments looking at one another before Trixie said, "Bobby's out there, hunting out little boy hidey-holes."

"Good idea. Bobby's got a good head on his shoulders."

"Yeah, I guess he does. I never thought about it before. He was always just my baby brother, you know?"

"Right."

Of course he didn't know; how could he? Dan had never really had a family. Trixie felt her cheeks flame at her slip of the tongue, but Dan sprang forward, taking her hand in his strong brown one. "Don't feel bad, Trixie. I have plenty of family now that I've met you … and the other Bob-Whites."

They were standing very close to one another, and Trixie felt Dan's eyes hot on hers. As if in a dream, she saw his head dip as he bent toward her, felt his breath on her lips, and then felt his mouth on hers, soft and gentle and undemanding. She heard herself give a little gasp of surprise, but she didn't pull away, lost in the sweetness of it.

And then, from a tree high above, she heard Bobby's delighted voice call out, "Jim! Trixie, Jim's back!" And Dan pulled away, the movement seeming almost deliberately slow. Over his shoulder she saw Jim, his green eyes blazing in his white face. As Trixie's gaze met Jim, he turned on his heel and stalked away.

Trixie felt torn. Dan's eyes were on her, waiting to see what she would do, and Jim was retreating further and further down the path. She wanted to stay, to tell Dan—what, exactly? She didn't know what to tell him. She didn't know what she thought. All she knew was that her burning need to go after Jim, to try to set things right between them, was becoming harder and harder to ignore.

Dan sighed. "Go. Nothing will ever be settled if you don't talk to him now."

"Thank you, Dan. I—We'll talk later. I promise."

He nodded, looking glum, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'll keep an eye out for Bobby."

Trixie had all but forgotten about her little brother, and she felt a pang of guilt, but it didn't slow her down as she raced after Jim, her sneakered feet pounding on the dirt of the path. "Jim! Jim, wait!"


	8. Chapter 8

_Thanks for the enthusiastic response to the last chapter. Particular thanks to all the guest reviewers - since you're not signed in, I can't thank you personally, but I appreciate that you took the time to review!_

* * *

Trixie caught up to Jim at last, reaching out to grab his arm. "Jim, stop, please."

He wrenched his arm out of her grasp, glaring down at her furiously.

Trixie withdrew her hand. She felt small and miserable standing there in front of him. Wasn't he going to say anything? "You were supposed to be back tomorrow."

"Oh, so it didn't matter what you did today, is that it?" he said caustically.

She hated it when he got sarcastic that way. "No, that's not it. And what difference does it make to you, anyway?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

All month she had moped around, unable to give words, even to herself, to how his coldness had made her feel. At last he was here in front of her, and the words came spilling out. "It's supposed to mean that as soon as you went to college I wasn't part of your life anymore. You didn't write, you hardly spoke when you came home. How was I to know you still thought you got to have some say in what I do?"

His mouth tightened, his green eyes sparking … and then he turned away. "You're right. You're right. I thought you knew what I was thinking—we've always had such a strong connection, I just assumed … I don't know what I assumed. It wasn't that, though," he added, gesturing down the trail toward where Trixie had left Dan and Bobby.

"I guess you thought you were the only guy who might ever be interested in me?" Trixie felt empty, like a balloon with all the air out of it. "I don't know who that insults more."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Really? Because it sounds like you went away and realized I wasn't what you wanted, but you didn't want me to change—I was still supposed to be here waiting for you, in case you decided you couldn't do any better." She'd hardly known she thought these things, but as she spoke they felt right. Quietly, almost ashamed of herself, she added, "I was as surprised as you are to find out that Dan … thought of me that way."

"I'm not surprised."

"You're not?"

"No. I could have seen it, if I had been paying attention. He's always taken your side, supported you, looked at you like—But I thought you were my special girl."

"You haven't called me that in a long time, Jim."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Why have you been so distant? What happened?" Trixie looked up at him, everything else receding. Finally, they were talking again.

"It doesn't matter. Why were you kissing Dan?"

"Doesn't matter? Of course it matters! I've spent all year trying to figure out if it was something I did wrong, or something someone else did right. And then Dan was there, and he … wasn't confusing. He said what he meant. Or he tried to, anyway, which was almost as good."

"So you just kissed him? I—I always thought your first kiss would be for me." Jim said the last in a near-whisper, but it made Trixie feel wistful and happy and sad and angry all at once.

The mix of emotions churned in her stomach and made her feel ill, which made her even angrier. "Why didn't you ever say so, then?" she shouted. "You seem to have assumed a lot, for someone who's barely spoken to me in months."

"Don't you think I know that?" Jim reached out, his hands closing around Trixie's upper arms. It seemed as though he might shake her; and then he pulled her closer, his mouth coming down on hers. Trixie barely had time to take a breath. Jim's lips were firm and Trixie could feel the heat from his body warming her all through. Where Dan had been tentative, asking for her response, Jim demanded it. Where had he learned to kiss like this? Who had he learned it from?

That lost thought broke the spell. Trixie pushed Jim away, swiping the back of her hand across her mouth as she glared at him. "So I was supposed to wait for you, but you didn't bother to do the same, is that it?"

"It's not like that," he said. "It was college, and things are … different there, and I—"

"Save it. I'm not interested in your stories. I'm not interested in anything to do with you. Not anymore." She turned around, heading back down the path the way she had come. Maybe Bobby had found some trace of that lost little boy. Right now, she needed a good mystery to sink her teeth into, something she could understand.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks for reading, all of you! I appreciate it._

* * *

Bobby had shimmied down from his tree and was looking at a piece of cloth he had found. "Look, Trixie," he said as she approached. "This is one of Moms's dish towels."

"So the boy must have come to our house. Maybe he came in at night and got a snack," Trixie said, remembering the night she had gotten up to find the mess in the kitchen.

"I wish he'd stayed until we woke up," Bobby said wistfully. He clutched the dish towel tighter.

Trixie looked at him with sympathy. He spent a lot of time alone, it was true—too young to really be part of his older siblings' daily lives, but too old to need them as his babysitters any longer. And all of his friends lived too far away to see very often unless he talked Moms into driving him. "Maybe when we find him the two of you can play together," she said, ruffling her brother's hair.

"Maybe." Bobby didn't sound convinced.

"Did … Did Dan leave?"

"Yeah, he said he had work to do. Where's Jim? I wanted to see him."

"Sorry, buddy. Jim … um, had to go, too. I'm sure he'll be around. Maybe he'll let you play with Patches. If you ask Moms, she might let you go up to the Manor House after dinner."

"You'll come too, right, Trixie?"

"Maybe." Trixie wasn't sure what she was going to do. She knew she didn't want to see Jim again anytime soon, and maybe not Dan, either. Things were so much easier when they had all just been friends, with none of this romance getting in their way. The trouble was, she couldn't forget the sensations that had coursed through her body when Dan and Jim kissed her, the first sweetness and the second heat. Those feelings were an all-new mystery, but they were a mystery she was almost afraid to solve—she didn't see any way out of the current predicament without someone getting hurt.

She and Bobby walked slowly back to Crabapple Farm. To Trixie's mingled delight and dismay, Brian had come home a day early as well, so he was there in the kitchen helping set the table, and Honey was there as well, tossing the salad. She looked up expectantly as Trixie came in, and she looked puzzled as she saw that no one came in after Bobby.

"Jim didn't find you, little sister?" Brian asked, after hugs had been exchanged. He put his hand on her shoulder, looking down at her seriously. Trixie wondered what Jim had told Brian. Something, clearly, because both Brian and Honey seemed to expect her to … what? They were looking at her as though they expected some kind of wonderful news.

Trixie ducked her head to avoid those eager gazes. "Moms, Bobby and I will go wash up, and then I can help with whatever's necessary."

"Don't worry, dear, my big helpers here have it all under control," Helen Belden said with a fond glance at Brian. "Did you find the little boy?"

"No, I'm afraid we didn't."

"We found this, though," Bobby offered, holding out the dish towel. "Trixie thinks the boy came and ate here in the kitchen."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Brian said. "Moms, you really should start locking the doors at night."

"To save us all from hungry little boys who come in at night to get something to eat? I don't think so."

"Is this the boy you saw a month ago, Trixie? Has he really been out there all this time?" Honey's eyes were soft with concern. Trixie tried to remember if she'd mentioned her ongoing search to her friend in the meantime. They'd seen so little of one another, she might not have.

"I'm afraid he must have been."

"Dan's been helping you, hasn't he?" Honey asked.

"Dan?" Brian frowned. "Was he with you today?"

Trixie willed herself not to blush. "Yes." She saw the exchange of glances between her brother and her best friend, and wondered what they were saying to each other that no one else could translate. "Is Mart coming to dinner?"

"He's on the phone, with Hallie." Brian's frown faded and a smile took its place. "It's always nice when Mart can't get a word in edgewise."

"Hallie does have that effect. Is she coming to visit?" Trixie and her cousin hadn't always gotten along, but in recent years a warmth and understanding had developed between them.

"We hope so," Moms said, pushing a basket of rolls into Trixie's hands. "Put these on the table."

Bobby, hands freshly washed and face shining clean, took his seat. "Trixie, I think I know where we can look tomorrow. There's a fort not far from where we were today. I haven't played in it in years."

Honey and Trixie looked at each other, smothering a smile at Bobby's seriousness.

"We'll take a look at it tomorrow, then, Bobby, thanks." Trixie took her place, too, as Mart came in, having finished his phone call.

As she took the chair next to Trixie, Honey leaned over and whispered, "Talk to you after dinner?"

Trixie nodded, but for possibly the first time ever, she didn't look forward to talking things over with her best friend.


	10. Chapter 10

_Thanks for reading, everyone!_

* * *

Honey brought her bag up to Trixie's room after dinner, while Brian and Mart were arguing over who would be washing the dishes.

"I thought your parents didn't approve of you sleeping over when Brian's at home," Trixie commented.

"Usually not, but it's a special occasion, since he's been away so long. They made me promise to stick close to your side the whole time I'm here." Honey giggled. "Which is a big change from when they used to tell me to stay in the house, no matter what you tried to talk me into."

"We did get into some scrapes, didn't we?" Trixie said. She wondered, not for the first time, if she could confide her current scrape to Honey. Jim was Honey's brother, after all, and Brian's best friend. What if what she had to say got back to him? Of course, he'd seen her kissing Dan, so what was there left to find out? Trixie put a hand to her head, which was suddenly pounding. "Things used to be so simple!"

"What's not simple?" Honey sat down next to Trixie on the edge of the bed. "Trixie, what has been going on this summer? You've hardly said a word to me all month."

Trixie realized what her turmoil and confusion must have looked like to her chum. She gave Honey an impulsive hug. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to seem that way. I just … I didn't know what to say. It's—Dan."

"Dan? What's he done?" Honey's words were instantly suspicious, and as soon as they were out she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, that sounded terrible! I mean, what about him?"

"He … likes me."

Honey's laughter startled Trixie. "Well, of course he does. He always has."

"You mean, you knew? And you didn't tell me?"

"You didn't know? Oh, Trixie. I had no idea. It seemed as plain as day to me. He's always right at your side, any time he can actually come along with us, and he looks at you … well, you know."

"Oh." Trixie could feel her cheeks turning red. How embarrassing, that she had missed something so obvious. Jim had said something similar before, she remembered, but she'd thought he was exaggerating.

"So did he say something to you? Dan, I mean."

"Yes. A couple of weeks ago, and since then, I've been all turned around."

"But, Trixie, what about—" Honey left the sentence unfinished, and Trixie frowned.

"Jim, you mean? Jim who went away to college and didn't write? That Jim? What about him, Honey?"

"Trixie, you can't think that meant anything! Jim really—I mean, um …" She blushed. "I suppose I shouldn't use a big word like love on his behalf, but he does care about you. I know he does!"

"He's got a funny way of showing it."

Honey got up from the bed, pacing the floor for a few moments. "Trixie, if I tell you something—you have to promise you won't let anyone know."

"Anyone as in Jim?"

"Or Brian. Or … anyone else."

More than anything, Trixie wanted to know what her friend had to say, but she knew herself well enough to know keeping secrets wasn't her strong suit. Everything she felt showed on her face, much to her chagrin. "Honey, you know I can't promise that."

"I know, but—he'll never tell you on his own, and then things will just keep being awful, with you two not speaking and Brian and I having to watch what we say, and it's not fair to any of us. I know he's my brother, and you know how much I love him, but this is a mistake, and he's too red-headed and stubborn to admit it."

"Honey." Trixie was mystified. "What could he possibly have done?" Part of her was relieved that she might at last understand the reason behind the strain between Jim and herself, but the other part wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Her friend sat back down on the bed, leaning toward Trixie. "Look, I wasn't supposed to know, either. I happened to overhear Jim on the phone with Brian one night. He got really mad when I asked him about it, but eventually he told me." She broke off.

"Told you what?" Trixie was afire with impatience.

"I can't. He has to tell you himself. It'll never be right between you if he doesn't. Trixie, you have to make him tell you. Get under his skin. You've always known how to reach him better than any of the rest of us. At least, until recently," Honey added when Trixie began to protest.

"He'll never tell me, not if he feels that way about it."

"Not if you don't ask him. No, tell him you know there's something you should know and you want him to tell you."

Trixie opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by her mother's voice calling her to the phone. She ran down the stairs, her heart pounding. Could it be Jim, ready to tell her this mysterious thing?

"Who is it?" she asked Moms.

"Dan."

Now Trixie's heart was pounding for a different reason. Dan would want to know what had happened between her and Jim. And he would want to talk about what had happened between the two of them. She didn't know what to say on either topic, but she couldn't refuse to talk to him.

Reluctantly, she took the phone. "Hi, Dan."


	11. Chapter 11

_Thanks for reading, everyone, and special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to review! I really appreciate it._

* * *

Dan's voice came on the line, and Trixie felt her stomach fill with butterflies. From nerves, or attraction? She wished she knew. "Hey, Trixie. Um … I'm sorry to call so late. I meant to before, but I, well, I didn't know what had happened with you and Jim, so …" His voice trailed off. Trixie felt badly that she still couldn't give him a definite answer, either of encouragement or discouragement. Did that mean she didn't have true feelings for him, if she still couldn't decide? Or did it mean she was so mixed-up, she didn't know what she wanted?

She realized she hadn't responded yet when he repeated her name. "Sorry, Dan. It's, um, awkward."

"Because you're in the middle of your family?"

"Right."

"Yeah, I should have thought of that. Not really the time to have a serious talk, is it?"

"Not really. Tomorrow sometime?"

"I can take a break around lunchtime."

"That sounds good." There was a pause. Uncomfortable, Trixie said, "Good-night, Dan."

Before she could hang up, Dan said, urgently, "Trixie!"

"What?"

"Is … there anything going on over there that I should know about?"

"Um, Brian's home."

"Oh, yeah? Maybe we'll have to have a real club meeting again. I miss those."

"Me, too. Di should be back soon. It'll be nice to have all the Bob-Whites together again." Assuming they were all still speaking to one another. Trixie sighed unhappily. She hadn't meant to make such a mess of things—how had it gotten so complicated.

"So if Brian's home, I guess you all had a big welcome-back dinner."

"Yeah, Honey came over and she's spending the night." Trixie wondered if Dan had been fishing to see if Jim had come over. And then with a pang of guilt she realized that maybe Dan just wished he had been invited. How many meals had the Beldens and the Wheelers shared together that Di and Dan hadn't been included in? How many nights had they stayed over at each other's houses? It was just so easy to call back and forth, and Miss Trask and Moms always had food available … but they could have called Dan and asked him along any time, and they rarely had remembered. "I'm sorry we didn't call you, Dan!" she said impulsively.

"What else is new?"

"Right." She tried to think of something else to say that wouldn't end the phone call on such a depressing note. "Oh, say, you'll never guess who called tonight. My cousin Hallie! She might come visit."

"Oh, yeah? That's great. Hallie's a good egg."

"I think so, too. I didn't always, but—"

"You can say that about a lot of people, Trix."

"That's true." Trixie blushed. She was certainly good at jumping to conclusions about who was a good person and who was a bad one, and very bad at changing her mind until proven wrong. She had thought Dan was a bad guy at one point. Was that why he had never truly felt like a member of the club, because she was still holding on to some of that distrust? She hoped not; she liked to think of herself as a more forgiving person than that. She could apologize again, she supposed, but that hadn't gone so well the first time. "Dan, I should go."

"All right. Where do you want to meet tomorrow?"

Trixie glanced around. Mart was doing the dishes, his back to her, Brian was flipping through a car magazine, Honey had brought down some sewing and was sitting next to Brian. Not that she distrusted any of them, exactly, but she wanted to make sure that her talk with Dan was as private as possible. "You pick."

"Got it. What about the clearing from today?" His voice had softened, most likely at the memory of their kiss, and Trixie felt a little jolt of electricity thinking of it herself. Maybe she did like Dan. Or maybe she was feeling guilty. Why couldn't she just decide and be done with it?

"Sure, the—that sounds good," she said at last.

"'Night, Trixie." There was a pause, then Dan whispered, "Sweet dreams."

"Um, you, too." She hung up the phone, keeping her head down. She didn't want to look up and meet the others' eyes or have to answer their questions. "Hey, Honey, are you ready for bed?"

"I was thinking about a midnight snack. Want some cookies?"

Trixie looked at her best friend, and then at her brothers. They were the people she was closest to in the world, other than Jim and, now, it seemed, maybe Dan. And she really didn't want to be alone with her thoughts right now. "You sure you made enough? I'm pretty hungry. I might even have as many as Mart."

"Yon gauntlet has been cast!" Mart exclaimed. "Let the consumption of confectionery commence!"

"Loosely translated," Brian said, grinning, "'not a chance; let's eat!'"

"Isn't that what I said?" Mart mumbled, his mouth already full of crumbly cookie.

"Sit down, Trix, before Mart eats them all." Honey smiled at her, and Trixie took her seat, glad to be doing something so normal as eating cookies in her mother's kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

_Sorry to have missed Friday's update! Shouldn't happen again. Thanks to all of you for reading and to all my reviewers for taking the time to share their thoughts with me._

* * *

Later that night, Trixie sat up in bed, listening to Honey's soft breathing next to her. They had gone to bed without speaking, neither one of them wanting to bring up the subject that hung in the air, and neither able to think of something else to talk about. But Trixie couldn't sleep for thinking of everything that had happened today. What she really wanted to do was get up and get a flashlight and go looking for that missing little boy … but even she knew what a foolish thing it would be to go hunting through the woods in the dark like that.

Sitting and thinking had never been her specialty, though, and she felt she'd been doing entirely too much of both all summer. She threw back the covers, hastily pulling on shorts and a T-shirt and sliding her feet into her worn shoes. Carefully she made her way down the stairs, stopping frequently to listen and make sure she hadn't awakened anyone else. The last thing she wanted right now was company.

Once she was outside, she sat on the steps, listening to the sounds of nature in the hot summer night. What she was really hoping to hear were sounds that weren't natural. She hoped the little boy would come back, knowing he had found food and shelter there once before. "If you're out there," she called softly, "you can come in. It's safe. We'll help you, we promise!"

Trixie was startled to hear movement. It wasn't Reddy, the big Irish setter, because he was lying on the porch next to her, his ears pricked up but otherwise showing no signs of concern. But as a figure emerged from the woods and came into the moonlit yard, she recognized that it wasn't the lost little boy, either … at least, not the one she was looking for today. The tall man approaching her had been lost once, on the run and in hiding, and she had found him and brought him to a family that loved him. And they had been friends, good friends. That was what mattered.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi. You weren't talking to me, I take it?"

"No. I didn't know you were there."

"But the invitation's still open—it's safe?" He smiled, tentatively, and so did Trixie.

"It's safe."

Jim sat down on the porch steps, far enough away that she could tell he came to talk and not to try to continue what had been started that afternoon.

"What were you going to do if I wasn't awake?"

He chuckled. "Knowing you, the bigger worry was that I would have passed you on the way."

"You're probably right about that. If I'd sat here much longer, I would have thought of somewhere to go."

"Somewhere?"

Trixie sighed. "Probably to the Manor House. Honey … said she thought you and I should talk."

"You didn't really need Honey to tell you that, did you? Trix, you and I have always been able to talk."

"Not recently."

"No, I suppose not." He rested one arm on his knee, looking out into the woods.

"What happened when you went to college, Jim?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Yes, so I've noticed," Trixie said dryly. "But if you don't, we'll never be able to fix this."

He turned his head to look at her. "Couldn't I just apologize and promise it would never happen again?"

"If you can't be honest with me, that's worse than whatever might have happened that you're trying to hide."

"Dan would never hide anything from you, is that it?" he said nastily. When Trixie didn't answer, he flushed, muttering, "Sorry."

"You should be. He's never said a word about you."

"Smart boy."

"Maybe he's just nice, did you think of that?"

"It's just that, when I think of him kissing you, I … Trixie." He took her hand, holding it tightly. "Please, let's just go back to the way things were."

The strength of his grip and the pain in his voice made Trixie's heart soften. "No, Jim," she said resolutely, pulling her hand away. "It's not going to work like that. Either you have to tell me what happened, or this—is never going to be." She was startled by the sense of desolation she felt at the idea—but was that because she was so used to it always being "Jim and Trixie," or because she really couldn't stand to live her life without him?

"All right." He stood up, walking down the stairs and a few steps out onto the grass. "It was the second weekend I was at college. I was lonely, and I missed being here with all of you—with you, Trixie. But I knew I had to stick it out and learn to like it, because I couldn't stand the thought of letting you all down, not to mention the Wheelers, who have been so good to me. So I went to this party they were having down the hall in my dorm. And I … I had a few drinks." Jim glanced at her, ducking his head. "I wouldn't have thought of myself as that kind of guy, to start drinking just because I was lonely and wanted to fit in, but I guess I am. Don't worry, Brian's already chewed me out for that, and I haven't done that again. I won't, either, since I know what it can lead to, and what it could end up costing me."

Trixie shook her head. "Jim, don't be so hard on yourself. You made a mistake, and you learned from it. Anyone can do the first; not everyone can do the second." She smiled, then frowned. "If that's all, I don't know what this fuss was all about. This is the kind of thing we should be able to talk about."

"It's not all." Jim's face, which had brightened at her reassurance, fell again. "You see, while I was at that party, I met a girl, and we—We fooled around."

"You mean, you kissed?"

"It was a bit more than that," Jim whispered. "Not everything, if you get my meaning, but … stuff. And then, we went on a couple of dates." He groaned, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "No, not even dates. We met to … kiss more."

"Not just kissing, though, right?" Trixie's mind had already conjured an image of the girl. Tall, and poised, and well dressed, and … womanly in a way Trixie had never learned how to be.

"No."

"You liked her?"

"She was beautiful, yeah." He looked directly at her. "Before you ask, she was all the things you're imagining, and all the things you think I'm attracted to. And I enjoyed it at the time. But then I got a letter from you, and I—it was like waking up from a dream. Because in all that time that I was 'dating' this girl, we never had a conversation. She never asked me about my dreams, or cared what I felt. I wanted to get on a bus and come straight home and throw myself at your feet. And I could have kicked myself for having ruined all those firsts with someone who wasn't you."

"I notice you never did take that bus home." Trixie crossed her arms, huddling down into herself to ward off the sudden breeze. Or was she just cold from imagining Jim with another girl?

"I didn't know what to say, how to explain. I couldn't be with you without thinking about what I had done. I wanted to be with you, to do—all those things with you, but I didn't feel that I had that right any longer."

"Why couldn't you just have been honest with me? We've always been honest with each other," Trixie whispered.

"I couldn't stand to think of the look on your face. I felt I had betrayed you. I did betray you, Trixie!"

"We never made any promises to each other, not that way, not really." Why was she making excuses for him when she felt as though he had stripped off the top layer of her skin, raw and bare and exposed?

He frowned. "Yes, we did. I gave you that bracelet, do you remember?"

"That was a long time ago."

"I know, but you knew how I felt when I went away. We were together every day last summer."

"But you never said anything. Or … tried … anything."

"I thought there was so much time. I didn't want to rush you into something you weren't ready for." He came across the grass to her, kneeling on the bottom step. "Trixie, I'm so sorry. For what I did, for how I reacted, for shutting you out … for everything. Can you ever forgive me?"

She was shivering now. "I don't know. I can't think right now. I'm so cold."

Jim reached for her, as if to put his arms around her and hold her to warm her up, and then he pulled his arms back. He stood up, his head hanging. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Trixie looked up at him. In that moment, suddenly she saw herself through his eyes. She had a tendency to still think of herself as a gawky young girl, but Jim saw her as anything but. He saw her as a woman, and so did Dan, and it was high time for her to start seeing herself that way, too. The shivering stopped, and she stood up, feeling somehow taller. "Yes. Tomorrow morning, we'll be having a meeting of the Bob-Whites of the Glen. I'll bring everyone from here. You bring Dan. We have a mystery to solve—there's a lost little boy out there who needs us."

He opened his mouth when she said Dan's name, but she kept talking and didn't let him argue. They looked at one another for a moment, and then Jim nodded. "At your service, Co-President."

"Thank you … Co-President." As he turned to go, Trixie called after him. "Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"I know how hard this was for you. Thank you for telling me."

He nodded, turning away. Trixie watched him until he disappeared into the woods, then went back to bed. For once, all her questions were stilled. She didn't know the answers yet, but she was confident she could find them, and it made for the first restful night's sleep she'd had in a very long time.


	13. Chapter 13

_Well, didn't that last chapter go over like a lead balloon. It's okay - you all warned me what your reaction would be. To me, the important part was less what Jim did (even though I think it was a perfectly natural reaction to being on his own in an unknown situation - think back to your own college years, if you're past them; didn't you make some mistakes? I know I did!), but more how Trixie reacted to him. It's her mindset I'm wanting to explore in this story, and the way she stops seeing herself as an awkward ugly duckling and starts seeing herself as a young woman mature enough to choose and act for herself. Thanks for reading - I appreciate it! _

* * *

The next morning, Trixie was up bright and early, even before Honey was awake. Her best friend blinked sleepily at her. "You're never awake this early. What's going on?"

"It's a beautiful day, and there's a mystery to solve. What could be better?"

Honey seemed to accept that, and the two girls briskly made the bed before going downstairs to help Moms get breakfast on the table. Trixie cheerfully helped clean up and wash dishes afterward, as well, provoking more comments from her brothers. Once the dishes were done and Moms had given them all the day off from chores since it was Brian's first day home, Trixie announced the special emergency meeting of the B.W.G.s. The others all started willingly enough down the path to the Wheelers' ex-gatehouse, now the Bob-Whites' clubhouse, but Trixie realized she had forgotten something.

"You all go on ahead. I'll be right back."

Bobby was sitting forlornly on the porch steps, petting Reddy. Both he and the red setter were too old to get as much fun out of playing together as they used to, and Trixie was glad for the impulse that had brought her back home.

"What are you doing just sitting there?" she asked her little brother. "Come on!"

"Come on where?"

"To the meeting." She smiled at him. "Today, you are an honorary Bob-White of the Glen."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are."

The sunny smile that spread over her little brother's face was all the thanks Trixie could have asked for. They raced each other to the clubhouse, Bobby winning handily as his little sneakers pounded the dirt.

The others were there waiting, both Jim and Dan looking uncomfortably at Trixie and then at each other. Bobby's surprise presence was greeted with smiles and cheers all around, and Trixie was doubly glad she'd thought to bring him along since the distraction eased the tension in the room.

"Sorry to pull you away from your work, Dan," she said.

"It's okay. Mr. Maypenny was going to give me the day off anyway, since it's Jim and Brian's first day back."

"Now all we need is Di and we'd be all together again," Honey said wistfully. "But she won't be back for another week."

"And Hallie, too," Dan spoke up. "She's an honorary B.W.G., isn't she?"

"Sure is." Trixie sent him a grateful glance, glad that he had remembered her cousin. "Now, to the business of the day … a lost little boy, wandering the woods. We've been trying to follow his footprints, we've tried to think like a lost little boy," she nodded to Bobby, who glowed at being included, "and now we really have to find him. It's been too long."

"Has anyone checked with the police to find out if he's been reported missing?" Brian asked.

"I called Sergeant Molinson a couple of weeks ago, and he said no, but he'd let us know if anyone did. I'm not sure he believed me when I told him that Trixie had seen the kid—he seemed to think it must just be Bobby playing tricks."

"I would not!" Bobby said, his face reddening.

"I know that," Mart told him, ruffling his little brother's hair. "And I said so to Sergeant Molinson. I think the sergeant was just trying to avoid having to deal with Trixie again. He said how peaceful and quiet it's been in Sleepyside this year with the detective on extended leave."

Trixie flushed. She'd known she wasn't on the sergeant's list of favorite people, but she hadn't thought she'd been that much of a nuisance.

"Never mind, Trixie," Jim said. "We all know how much good you've done, even if the sergeant doesn't want to admit that he's been shown up time and again by a schoolgirl shamus." His pet name for her flowed easily from his lips, and Trixie felt her cheeks heat even further. She hated that nickname, and had only ever put up with it because of her special feelings for Jim. With those feelings in question, the nickname disturbed her even more than usual.

"What about Mrs. Vanderpoel?" Honey asked. "She often seems to know what's going on around here."

"That's a good idea, Honey. I can't believe I didn't think of it. Let's make that our first stop today."

"Oh, boy, cookies!" Mart said.

"Didn't you just eat an enormous breakfast?" Dan asked him.

Brian chuckled. "Some things never change. What say you, Miss Co-President? Shall we head for Mrs. Vanderpoel's?"

"Mart's stomach would be crushed if we didn't," Trixie answered, sticking her tongue out at her almost-twin.

They left the gatehouse and went up to the stables, saddling the horses amidst Regan's good-natured ribbing at the lack of exercise the animals had had so far this summer, and then rode through the woods. Trixie, at the back of the pack, sat easily on Susie's back, watching the others ahead of her. Despite the tensions, it was so good to have everyone working together again.


	14. Chapter 14

_Thanks for reading! I think we're looking at about five more chapters after this to wrap everything up. _

* * *

Mrs. Vanderpoel came rushing out of her house as they rode up, her hands fluttering. "Oh, my dears, it has been such a long time. Come and have some cookies and milk, sit down and tell me everything that's been going on!"

They dismounted, tying the horses to the fence in front of the house, and went in for some of her tasty cookies. After they had caught her up on all their news, while Trixie sat agitatedly trying not to break in with her questions, Bobby said, "Have you seen any little boys around here this summer?"

"He'd have looked a lot like Bobby, only maybe a little smaller," Trixie added.

"Well, let me think." Mrs. Vanderpoel looked at Bobby as she thought, her head tilted to the side. "Yes, I did see a boy here, a week or so ago. He said his name was Petey. When I asked him if he was lost he said no, that he was just on his way to visit some friends. Come to think of it, I assumed he must mean you, Bobby, since he was going toward your house."

"He went toward our house? You mean, the way we came?" Brian asked.

"No, you all came down the bigger path from the Manor House. He took the smaller one, the footpath that goes toward Crabapple Farm."

"Any nocturnal visitors since that first time, Trixie?" Dan was looking directly at her, and she flushed, unable to keep herself from thinking of yesterday's events as she met his eyes. "He might have gone past your place looking for food again."

"Come to think of it," Mart said, "when I got up a couple of nights ago for a midnight snack, there was a loaf of bread out on the counter. I blamed Trixie, naturally." He grinned at her, and Trixie swatted him on the arm.

"You could have mentioned that yesterday," she told him.

"I really didn't think anything of it—it's not as though midnight snacks are uncommon around our house, you know."

Mrs. Vanderpoel looked at the two of them in distress. "You mean, that little fellow wasn't visiting you?"

"We think he's lost, living in the woods," Trixie explained. "That's why we're looking for him."

"The poor dear! Here, take some food with you, in case you find him." The old woman bustled around the kitchen, packing a small brown bag, and handed it to Honey, patting her hand. "If anyone can find him, it's you children." As Brian stood up, she smiled at him. "Not such children as you used to be. I remember you, Brian Belden, when you were still speaking with a lisp, running around out here."

Brian grinned. "Your cookies are just as good now as they were then." He leaned down to kiss Mrs. Vanderpoel on the cheek.

"Thank you!" they all chorused, leaving the tidy kitchen and going outside where the horses were tied.

Jim looked down the narrow path the old woman had indicated. "Riding single file through that, the way we'd have to, would take forever. Trixie and Honey, why don't the two of you and Bobby go explore down the footpath, and we'll take the longer way around to Crabapple Farm?"

"Sounds good." Trixie looked anxiously between Jim and Dan, but there was nothing for it, and the two of them couldn't avoid one another forever. Besides, Brian and Mart would be with them. "Come on, Bobby," she said, climbing into the saddle. "Honey?"

"Right behind you, Trixie."

Bobby went first on his pony, then Trixie on Susie and Honey on Lady.

"What are we looking for? Tracks?" Honey asked.

"Or anything else that might indicate where he's hiding," Trixie answered. "Bobby, is that fort you mentioned last night at dinner around here?"

"It's on the other side of the farm. Too bad the Lynch twins haven't been home this summer, or we might all have met there. We're trying to make a club just like the Bob-Whites, but they're never home," Bobby said sadly.

They rode in silence for a few more minutes, coming closer to the farm. As they came through a clearing, Trixie saw a flash of something running ahead of them, into the trees, recognizing Reddy's plumed tail. "Reddy!" she shouted. "What is that dog up to now?"

"I'll go see," Bobby said, swinging down from his pony. He handed the reins to Honey before running off into the brush after the red setter.

"Why don't you go, too, Trixie, and I'll wait here with the horses?"

"Reddy's probably after a rabbit," Trixie said. "It might be nothing."

"But it might not. I have a good feeling about today, maybe because we work better when we're all together." Honey smiled, and Trixie gave her friend a quick hug before following Bobby into the underbrush. He and Reddy had a good head start on her, but she followed the trail of broken branches and fluffy red fur. They seemed to be going in a big circle around the farmhouse. At last she heard Reddy barking and Bobby shouting something, and she burst through the brush to see Reddy standing on his hind legs, tail wagging happily, as he looked up into a tree. She hadn't seen the old dog this energetic in a long time. Bobby was standing next to the dog, and high up in the tree, clinging to a branch, was a little boy with blond hair, wearing dirty jeans and a worn pair of red sneakers.

"Call off your dog!" he said, his voice trembling. "Please! I didn't mean to take your food!"

"Don't worry," Trixie called up. "Reddy won't hurt you—he just wants to play. Remember, he didn't bark at all when you came in for food. We just want to be your friends. Is your name Petey?"

He nodded slowly.

"My name's Trixie, and this is Bobby. If I get Reddy to sit down, will you come down from the tree?"

"I … guess so."

He sounded doubtful, and Trixie felt a little doubtful herself; Reddy never obeyed orders. She took the dog by the collar, tugging him backward. Reddy came willingly enough, but he refused to sit when told to do so. She held more tightly to the dog's collar. "Petey, it's okay. Reddy will stay right here by me. When you come down, come over and meet him. He's very friendly."

"Okay." Slowly, the little boy climbed down from the tree, turning once his sneakers hit the earth to look at Bobby. "Hi."

"Hi."

The resemblance between them was stronger than Trixie had realized; they could have been brothers.

"Come back to my house," Bobby said. "My Moms will feed you. Are you hungry?"

"Uh-huh."

Trixie held on to the squirming Reddy while Petey came over and petted the dog on the head, giggling when Reddy licked his face. "Come on, Petey. Let's go home." She only wished she knew where his home was; surely his parents must be looking for him. She looked forward to being able to reunite him with his family.


	15. Chapter 15

_Thank you all for reading! _

* * *

The other Bob-Whites were waiting outside the old farmhouse Trixie had grown up in when she and Honey emerged from the woods behind Bobby and Petey, who were riding double on Bobby's pony. Petey's blue eyes had grown big and round when Trixie offered him a boost up on the little animal. She had hung back a little, letting Bobby take the lead, and the two little boys had chattered most of the way. Well, Bobby had chattered; Petey mostly listened, but he had an occasional question to add as well.

Peter and Helen Belden came out onto the porch with concern in their faces. "Trixie, who is this?"

"Moms, Dad, this is Petey. He's been living in the woods for a while," Trixie added. "I think he's probably pretty hungry."

"And in desperate need of a bath," Moms pointed out as the very dirty little boy slid off the pony into Brian's waiting arms. Something about tall, quiet Brian seemed to soothe the little boy, who trustingly put his hand into Brian's bigger one.

"What do you say, buddy? Bath time, then something to eat?" Brian asked.

Petey's face screwed up at the mention of a bath just like Bobby's used to, but when Brian squeezed his hand reassuringly, he nodded, letting himself be led into the house.

The rest of the Bob-Whites surrounded Bobby as soon as the door had closed behind Petey, Brian, and Moms.

"Did he tell you where he came from?" Trixie asked.

"What about his parents? Did he say anything about them?" Kind-hearted Honey's voice was filled with concern.

"Maybe if we had his last name we could call Sergeant Molinson and get him to start tracking Petey's family down," Dan suggested.

Bobby, overwhelmed, didn't know who to respond to first.

Mart put his hands reassuringly on his little brother's shoulders. "Why don't we just let Bobby talk?"

With a grateful smile at his older brother, Bobby said, "Petey doesn't have any parents. They died, he thinks, a long time ago. He ran away from a nasty person who wasn't nice to him, but he doesn't know how long ago."

"The poor thing!" Honey exclaimed.

"Has he been living in the woods ever since?" Jim sounded sympathetic; he, too, had been a runaway living in the woods.

Bobby nodded.

"Pretty impressive," Mart said. "Petey can't be much younger than our distinguished sibling here."

"What kind of who?" Bobby asked.

"It's a compliment," Trixie assured him. "Mart means you've done a good job today. You may have saved Petey's life—he couldn't have kept living in the woods forever."

Bobby glowed at his sister's praise.

"All of us are likely to be pretty overwhelming for Petey," Dan said. "Maybe some of us should take the horses back, so when he comes down there aren't so many people standing around."

Jim nodded crisply. "Good idea. I'll go; Mart?"

"Absolutely. My siblings appear to have the matter well in hand."

"I'll go, too," Honey said with a wistful glance at the house. "I'd like to stay, but he seems pretty comfortable with Brian and Trixie." She took Susie's reins from Trixie, leading the little mare. Mart took the reins of Bobby's pony, and Jim took Brian's.

Dan hung back as the rest of them left, seeming oblivious to the sharp looks Jim was giving him. "I admit I'm curious about Petey's story. Do you mind if I stay? We could have that talk," he added in a softer voice, and Trixie blushed.

The list of questions that had buzzed in her head all summer failed to appear, however. She straightened her shoulders. "Of course, Dan. Maybe once we get more information from Petey, you can call Sergeant Molinson. I think he'd rather not hear from me."

"I wouldn't be too sure, Trixie. I mean, no grown man wants to be shown up by a girl who's still in high school, but I think he respects what you've accomplished. And you were the one who found Petey, anyway, and kept pushing until he was found."

"That's true, although I wish I had been more sure of myself. If I had trusted my instincts enough, maybe I could have found him weeks ago." She glanced toward the house. "Poor little guy; he must have been so scared and lonely out there."

"Weren't you scared and lonely, too?" Dan was watching her. Bobby, bored with what appeared to him to be grown-up talk, went inside, leaving them alone. "Were you, Trixie?" Dan repeated.

"Yes, I was. I didn't know how to be a detective on my own," she said, surprised by her own honesty.

"Do you now?"

Slowly, thoughtfully, Trixie nodded. "I think I do."

"Good for you, Trix."

"I feel like I've learned a lot these last few weeks," she said, walking down off the porch and across the lawn. Dan followed her. "I work better when all of us are together," Trixie continued, "but I don't have to have everyone else in order to do it. I didn't know that before."

"So what does that mean for you now?"

Trixie sighed, looking up at the sunny sky. "I suppose it means that I'm ready to be just Trixie; not Co-President of the Bob-Whites or Brian and Mart's little sister … or Jim's special girl."

"What about my special girl?" Dan had stopped and was looking at her closely, his eyes intent on hers. Trixie found she felt none of those fluttery feelings she had felt yesterday. She was clear-headed and certain of herself.

"I don't think so, Dan. I'm sorry. Can you understand?"

"I can, Trixie." He reached for her hand, squeezing it. "If you don't mind my saying so, I like this new Trixie. Maybe even better than the old one … but in a different way."

"I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"You haven't. I guess—I hoped for more, but I hadn't really expected it. And maybe I just wanted you to know that you're a pretty special girl all on your own, Trixie."

"Thanks, Dan."

They walked back to the house together. Trixie felt that she knew Dan better now, and that not only did Dan know her better, she knew herself, for what felt like the first time. She could let go of the secret bitterness she had held onto toward Honey when it became clear that her best friend didn't really want to be detectives together, and she could look at Jim with new eyes. The question was, did she like what she saw?


	16. Chapter 16

_Thanks for reading! _

* * *

Petey had finished his bath and a prodigious 'snack', displaying an appetite that rivaled Mart's. He pushed his plate away, looking up at the circle of concerned faces that surrounded him, settling at last on Brian's. "Are—are you going to send me away?"

"Of course not," Brian said reassuringly.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need to," Moms agreed, reaching out to stroke Petey's mop of blond hair. He allowed the caress, sidling a little closer to her on his chair. "But isn't there someone out there looking for you? Do you know your parents' names?"

He shook his head, his blue eyes filling with tears. "I don't remember any parents. Just Miss Sadie, who took care of us."

"Us? Do you have brothers and sisters?" Trixie asked.

"No. There were a lot of kids who lived in the same house as me. Most of them left again after a little while, but I stayed."

"Sounds like foster care," Dan said. "Do you know Miss Sadie's last name?"

Wide-eyed, Petey shook his head again.

"What about the town you lived in?" Brian asked gently. "Can you tell us anything about that?"

"It was gray. And loud. It's so quiet here," Petey said. "And the grass is so soft!"

"How did you end up here?" Trixie couldn't imagine how a little boy from the city had managed to find his way to the woods near Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson.

He frowned. "We went somewhere, Miss Sadie and all of us, and then somebody picked me up and put something over my face. It got all dark. Then I was in a car. A woman was driving, and she yelled at me when she saw I was awake. She scared me."

"I'd have been scared, too, pal," Brian said.

"Really?"

"Definitely."

Petey looked happier at Brian's reassurance.

"How did you get away?" Bobby was hanging on the other boy's every word.

"She got a flat tire. I had to get out of the car so she could change the tire, and then I just ran. I got so tired, and I fell down, but I got up and kept running until I was sure she wasn't behind me anymore. But then I didn't know where I was, and I was so hungry."

"How did you eat?" Trixie was impressed with the little boy's self-possession. He had to be a little younger than Bobby, but he was telling his story clearly and concisely with attention to detail.

Petey was talking about roots and berries and how he had gotten so sick on something he'd picked off a tree, and Trixie quietly excused herself, going into the hallway to call the police. She asked for Sergeant Molinson, who picked up the phone with a long-suffering groan. "Yes, Miss Belden? I should have known it was too quiet around here."

"How are you, Sergeant?"

He seemed startled by the question. "Well as can be expected, I suppose. And you?"

"Just fine. I'm calling because we found a little boy wandering around in the woods—"

"And you think he's the long-lost heir to a fabulous fortune?"

Trixie refrained from the tart retort that rose to her lips—after all, Jim actually had been the long-lost heir to a fortune—and instead said, "No, sir. From what we can tell, this boy was abducted in a big city from an outing with his foster parent. He says he ran away from the woman who had captured him when she had to stop due to a flat tire, and he's been on his own ever since. For at least a month, I think. I thought you might want to know; I have to think the authorities are looking for him."

"You're probably right," the sergeant agreed. "Tell me everything you know."

She filled him in on all the details she had, transmitting some of the sergeant's questions to Petey, who answered them as best he could. The sergeant said he would make some calls and come out to the farm later that evening to talk to Petey and let them all know what he might have found.

Once she was off the phone, Trixie found that Petey and Bobby had gone upstairs to play, and the other Bob-Whites had returned from taking care of the horses. They were all lounging on the porch steps waiting for her.

"What's the news, Trixie?" Brian asked. He had his arm around Honey, and Trixie had to admit her friend looked very happy to be right where she was. She felt guilty that for so long she had wanted Honey to be something she wasn't, just so they could work together.

"Not much. Sergeant Molinson's got to do some calling around. He seemed to think it was my fault Petey didn't know enough to be able to tell whether he came from New York, or Pittsburgh, or Boston, or somewhere in between."

"He can't possibly blame you for that!" Honey said indignantly, and Trixie grinned.

"Maybe not, but he had to blame someone. I guess I was just closest."

Honey got up, hugging Trixie. "I'm so sorry I wasn't more help this summer. We could have found him so much sooner!"

"You don't have anything to apologize for. None of you do," Trixie said, forestalling what appeared to be a similar embrace and apology coming from Mart. "I should have been able to organize myself and find him on my own, or at least to ask more clearly for the help I needed. That won't happen again." She carefully didn't look at Jim, afraid she couldn't have done so without blushing.

"Don't look now, Mart, but I think our baby sister's growing up." Brian's warm smile made Trixie glow with pride. He had always been the responsible one, and she was glad to be starting to measure up to the standard he had set.

Mart grinned. "Perhaps, but she has leagues yet to attain before she approaches my own current stature, or thine, mine eldest kinsman."

She put her hands on her hips. "Who are you calling short, Mart Belden?"

"Yea, verily, yon varlet. Maintain a civil tongue in thy head," Jim said. They all turned to stare at him, and he shrugged. "What can I say? I learned a few things in college this year—many of them more important than old English." He wasn't looking at Trixie as he spoke, but she was sure she wasn't the only one who heard the message underlying his words. She was, however, the only one who could respond to it, and she still had some thinking to do.


	17. Chapter 17

_Thanks for your patience! This chapter took me longer than I'd expected - but I do hope you like where it ended up. One more chapter will bring us to the end._

* * *

Sergeant Molinson had been and gone. He'd been following up on Petey's story, and thought he might have a lead on the foster home the boy had been taken from. It seemed likely to take a couple more days to get the story straight. Until then Petey would stay with the Beldens. Already it seemed as though he'd lived there all his life—he and Bobby had become instant friends, and the rest of the Beldens and Bob-Whites were taken with Petey's open face and good manners.

Dan and Honey and Jim had all gone home. Brian was reading to the two little boys; Mart had disappeared into his room to catch up on some farm journals.

Trixie stood out on the porch, looking up at the stars. "Wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight," she whispered softly. What did she wish for, though? She had a loving family, a good home, and a career ahead of her, as well as the best friends a person could ask for. She still felt guilty that she couldn't be what Dan wanted, even though he had certainly taken it well. She'd have to find a nice girl for him, someone who shared his serious side but was fun-loving enough to draw him out of his shell. Trixie didn't feel she had the confidence to truly make someone like Dan happy. She was too quiet—too much like him, really.

"Are you coming inside, Trixie?" Moms called from the back door. When Trixie didn't answer immediately, Moms came out onto the porch as well, putting an arm around her daughter's waist. "Which one are you thinking about, out here alone? Or neither?"

"It's Jim. I think."

"Did he explain himself to your satisfaction?"

"I guess he did. I understood it, anyway."

"And do you forgive him?"

Try as she might, Trixie couldn't find any undercurrents in her mother's voice. There was no guidance to be found there—Moms seemed content to let Trixie make her own decision in this, and it felt surprisingly good. "I … think I do."

"Then you should go tell him so." Moms gave her a little nudge.

"Right now?"

"Can you think of a better time?"

"I suppose not." Trixie clambered down off the porch. There would be enough light to get her to the Wheelers', and she was sure she could borrow a flashlight to get home again.

"Trixie?" Moms called.

"Yes?"

"Be back by 10:30."

Trixie grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

The Wheelers' house was lit up already, the maid Celia having gone through and lit lamps throughout the downstairs. Trixie paused just outside. She felt shy about going inside and just asking for Jim, but she didn't want to barge in and start looking for him, either. As she hesitated, Miss Trask came by, sorting through a big pile of papers in her hands and muttering to herself.

"Oh, Trixie! I didn't see you there. Household accounts—always a bit distracting settling up and making sure every detail has been taken care of." She smiled. "I'm sure your mother can tell you all about that. Are you looking for Honey?"

"Um, actually, I was hoping … That is … Do you know where Jim is?"

She was glad she had run into Miss Trask, who just looked thoughtful instead of grinning and ribbing her about it, the way Regan or Tom Delanoy might have done. "Last I saw him, I think he was in the stables combing Jupiter down. He should be finished by now. You might want to check there."

"Do you need any help with those?" Trixie gestured toward the papers.

"No, thank you, dear. You run along now."

Trixie needed no further encouragement, although she didn't exactly run. She wasn't completely sure what she was going to say to Jim yet.

In the stables, she found Jupiter already in his stall. The big horse looked up at her over the bars and she reached out to gently pet his nose.

"All right, Jupe, here's your carrot," a familiar voice said behind her, and she turned to see Jim coming from the tack room, where Regan often kept treats for the horses. "Trixie, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

"Oh." His eyes sparked, burning bright green, but he didn't move.

Trixie didn't, either, waiting to see what he would do.

"Do you want to come into the house?" he asked eventually.

She wasn't sure she could talk freely inside, knowing they could be overheard or interrupted at any moment. Trixie shook her head. "Want to take a walk?"

"Sure." He handed the carrot to Jupiter, who had been fidgeting in his stall.

The afternoon light was waning, so they headed down toward the pond instead of through the woods. It was already dark under the trees, but the pond gleamed in the golden light, shimmering with the light breeze that played across the water, and Trixie closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

Jim waited patiently for a few minutes, then cleared his throat, scuffing the sand with his sneakers. "So …"

"Right." Trixie took a deep breath and let it out. "I've been thinking. About everything you told me the other night, and about Dan, and about what I want. For a long time, I didn't really think about that—I was so busy sulking because all the rest of you were moving on with your lives and leaving the B.W.G.s behind."

"Sulking? Were you really?" He glanced at her with a grin that sent warmth straight to her toes. "I can't imagine you sulking."

"I was, though. Because I was so used to us all being together, traveling together, solving mysteries. And I missed it. I missed you, Jim." Trixie turned to look up at him and reached out for his hand. "I missed you a lot."

"I missed you, too." Jim's fingers closed over hers and he pulled her toward him so that they were face to face. "Do you believe that, Trixie? All year, I thought about you and I wished I could come home and explain to you, fix everything that had gone wrong."

Trixie shook her head. "I wish you had. The fact that you didn't trust me enough to tell me what had happened is the worst part."

"I'm so sorry about that. I wanted to tell you, but Brian told me to wait for the right time, and I was afraid of what you would think of me, so I listened to him."

"Instead of talking to my brother, you should have talked to me. We couldn't ever have a—a real relationship if you took his word instead of asking for mine." Trixie searched his face, wanting him to know how serious she was about this, how much it had hurt to be shut out.

Jim reached for her other hand, squeezing them both. "I know that now. It won't happen again. I promise it, Trixie!"

"You hurt me. I won't let that happen again. I won't sit here wondering—I'll ask you what's going on."

"I hope you do. I mean it, Trixie. I want that kind of relationship, too. I want to prove that to you, if you'll only give me another chance—"

There was silence between them, as Jim's question hung in the air. This was the moment to make her decision, and she trembled on the edge of it. At last she took the step, moving so that she was very, very close to him. "Yes, Jim. With all my heart, yes."

His smile lit up the darkening evening. He put his arms around her, and she stood up on tiptoe to meet his lips. Even though it wasn't, this kiss felt like their first. Soft, and sweet, and promising, just the way Trixie had always imagined it would be.


	18. Chapter 18

_And we come to the end. Thanks for reading, everyone! I enjoyed writing this._

* * *

"Trixie! Jim's on the phone!" Moms's voice carried out to the garden where Trixie was picking the last of the fall produce, with the more or less willing help of Bobby and Petey. The months had flown by since the tumultuous events of the summer, the Bob-Whites growing closer than ever.

Petey's foster mother, Miss Sadie, had been found in Hartford, Connecticut, where she'd been worried sick about the little boy. On discovering that Petey's parents had died when he was just a toddler, the Beldens had unanimously agreed they couldn't remember life without him and had begun adoption proceedings, which they hoped would be finalized by Christmas. Bobby was thrilled to have a brother near his own age—Petey was just eight months younger, making them even more "almost twins" than Mart and Trixie—and the boys were inseparable. Of course, they squabbled half the time, but Moms cheerfully observed that so did Trixie and Mart, so she was more than used to it.

Hallie Belden had indeed come to stay over the summer, and her long legs and exotic good looks had drawn Dan's eye in a way noticeable even to Trixie, now that she was paying attention to such things. They were carrying on a lively correspondence through the mail, and anytime Hallie called, Dan was sure to "pop in for dinner" and a chance to chat with her, as Mr. Maypenny still didn't have a phone.

Sleepyside was quieter than ever, with not only Jim and Brian off to college, but Mart as well. Dan was studying through the mail, trying to save money. Regan would cheerfully have put his nephew through school, but Dan stubbornly insisted on earning his own way, and they all respected that about him. Diana was back, and she and Trixie and Honey were making the best of their last year at Sleepyside Junior and Senior High. Di spent less time with them than she used to—she was developing an interest in fashion, and spent a lot of her time in the art room, where she and their old friend Nick Roberts seemed to be forming an intimacy. Of all the Bob-Whites, this left only Mart still uncoupled, but some of his letters from college suggested he might have found what he was looking for in a girl in his freshman English class.

Trixie had thrown herself into her school work, achieving grades she had never thought she could manage, much less on her own withoout Jim and Brian to tutor her. Of course, their impatience with her had always made her feel less intelligent than she really was, so maybe it was more helpful to have them away. Now she was learning what she could do on her own.

She and Jim had spent a blissful summer together before he'd had to go off to college. It was such a relief to have their relationship defined. And although they argued quite a bit, they had also spent hours just sitting together, talking. They had always shared a bond, a special understanding of each other. But now Trixie felt like she was really getting to know Jim, and that the reverse was true as well. Even more, she felt she was finally getting to know herself, and that knowledge was changing her perspective of everyone around her.

"Trixie!" Moms called again. "Telephone!"

Shaking herself from her reverie, Trixie ran into the house, not bothering to shrug out of her jacket before she took the receiver from her mother. "Jim?"

"Hey, Trix!"

It was so good to hear his warm, happy voice. She couldn't help but grin. "Hey."

"Just bought my bus tickets to come home for Thanksgiving. Brian, too, of course."

"Of course. Can't wait to see you."

"Me, too."

They chatted about their classes for a few minutes, and Trixie filled him in on everything that was happening in Sleepyside. Just as her mother was signaling it was about time to get off the phone, Jim said hesitantly, "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Well, when I'm home for Thanksgiving … do you want to go out to dinner? Maybe some dancing?"

Trixie smiled into the receiver. It was a bigger deal than it sounded. Sleepyside wasn't really a dress up and go out kind of place, and their lives at home were consuming enough that all summer, they'd only been on two dates. That he was thinking about one already, planning for it, made her feel very special. "I'd love to."

"Great." She could practically hear his answering smile through the phone. "Good-night, Trixie."

"Good-night, Jim."

"Oh, and Trix?"

"Yes?"

"You're not going to get embroiled in any mysteries without me, are you?"

A year ago, she could have promised she wouldn't. She wouldn't have felt up to the task of investigating a mystery on her own. But now … "You never know. I just might."

She was still smiling as she hung up the phone, and she could feel the excited tingle of her nerves that told her another mystery was just around the corner. It was about time.


End file.
